Baby Tummy Time Essentials

We all hear about the importance of tummy time. Babies need to spend time awake on their tummy to build muscles, especially those in their head, neck and upper body. Furthermore, babies develop the strength and coordination needed to roll, sit, crawl, reach and play through tummy time. Yet, many babies seem to despise tummy time. Not because they think the experts are wrong; but, it is hard work. And who wants to work hard when they can spend the time snuggling instead?

While some families are blessed with a baby who enjoys tummy time, many are not. Out of my four children, I had one who enjoyed time on his tummy. My other three screamed and hollered so loud, I’m sure they bothered the neighbors. But with the right guidance, they learned to enjoy time on their tummy as well, even though they still preferred a snuggle.

Be sure to start tummy as soon as you arrive home from the hospital. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends beginning in baby’s first week. We will help you learn the tips and tricks for creating a successful tummy time for the whole family.

Prepare for Tummy Time

So, how does one turn the hard work of tummy time into an enjoyable experience for both parents and baby? Prepare for tummy time! When baby is first born, try tummy time on one of the parents. Lay baby on your own tummy to receive kisses, hear songs, or just listen to your heartbeat. Encourage your little one to lift their head by talking and singing to them. Give them lots of love and encouragement. That head is heavy!

During the beginning, it is perfectly okay for baby to have tummy time on their parent’s chest. Not only can your newborn have the coveted skin to skin time with their family, but dad can get involved too. If your partner complains about not enough time with baby, be sure to encourage them to let your little one have tummy time on their chest.

Tummy Time Secret

Here is the little secret to surviving tummy time. Tummy time is something you do with your baby not give to your baby. Parents need to be an active participant in tummy time if they want baby to participate. So schedule tummy time when you are able to give your all and so is baby. Then, end tummy time when either of you needs a break. If baby looks sleepy or fussy, baby wants a break. For tips on helping your baby sleep, try our post Making the Case for Sleep.

Set up your Area

We loved to lay out a clean blanket before we started tummy time on the floor. This ensured that anything dropped on the floor and pet hair was covered and out of baby’s reach. We usually used our tummy time mat as a special place for baby, at least until our little one got more mobile. This helped us keep our pets away and gave older children a visual for baby’s space so they didn’t crowd their little brother or sister too much.

Make sure to grab an extra blanket and some pillows for you too. The floor isn’t the most comfortable place for an adult, but you are needed in your little one’s space. So make the place as comfortable as you can. If the floor is too much for you, look into getting a firm air mattress or even using your own bed if it is firm enough so baby’s head doesn’t sink in. Think of how firm your baby’s mattress is, then look for something with the same firmness.

Plan Tummy Time Activities

Gather your tummy time toys. It’s okay to use the same toys from day to day, but it can also be nice to change a toy here or there to add more interest. You don’t need a lot of toys, just a few will do the trick. Plan to have about 5 toys available for your little one at a time. Too many and you may overwhelm your baby who will then want to end tummy time early.

Find a few favorite songs or fingerplays to share with your child. In the beginning, it’s okay if you only have 1. You will learn more as your child grows. And if you happen to have many already, that’s great too. The more songs and fingerplays you have the easier it is to engage your little one. We all start somewhere. I include some of our favorites below in the post and you may be surprised that you already know these but just forgot about them.

Parent Mindset

Your mindset is everything when it comes to tummy time. You need to settle your schedule and dedicate the time to playing with your child. If your mind is rushing all over the place or on the million of things you need to get done, you will find tummy time less successful. Take a break, set a timer and give your time to your newborn.

If you lose interest or have other things to do, you need a break. Tummy time should be short periods of time (1 min – 15 mins) a few times a day. For a newborn, a successful tummy time is around 2 -3 minutes. Even if baby is only on his/her tummy for a minute or two a few times a day, that is better than no awake tummy time at all. As baby grows, try to extend the length of tummy time when you and baby are able.

Tummy Time Must Haves

As you and baby feel ready, begin to transition baby to tummy time on the floor. We loved the prop and play mat by bright starts. We could prop up the front and sides of the mat, in any combination, to encourage baby to lift their head. All three sides could be put up, or any one side could be dropped for a parent (or sibling) to lay there. My little one could pick up his/her head without worry of hitting it on a toy and see something different no matter which way he/she turned.

I also loved the little hooks to be able to add toys. I could add rattle toys, squishy toys, teething toys, or even some stuffed toys to encourage my baby to turn, roll, pick up the head, and reach for toys. Plus, the extra mat was always great for propping my little one up to help with lifting the head. I could place the raised part under my little one’s chest with arms above to provide extra support. Just be sure that baby’s chin is over the raised part if your little one isn’t lifting their head well yet.

And if baby starts to roll? Not a problem, the sides fall down easily and are super soft. Your little one can roll right over either side or the front with little concern.

Babies Want to Spend more Time of their Tummy with You

While baby is having tummy time, plan to lay down with your little one. I would lay on the floor next to or in front of my sweet darling. We would sing songs, listen to music, talk, and even just smile at each other. It never mattered to my little ones that I am completely tone deaf and cannot carry a tune. What mattered was that I was interacting with them, down at their level, and smiling. We loved singing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” “Old MacDonald Had a Farm,” “You Are my Sunshine,” and even the ABCs.

And now that everyone has a cell phone, it’s easy enough to find a song on Pandora or YouTube to enjoy with your little one during tummy time. As your baby grows, we loved to read books together during tummy time. It was a great way to encourage baby to lift up to see the book. Plus it gets you both in the habit of reading together, which is great for your little one in so many ways.

Looking for other baby interactive movements to share with your little one? Try out fingerplays. Our children loved these. In the beginning, they would listen and watch as we said the words and did the motions. As they grew older, not only would they engage with us in the motions and words, but these also helped to calm them when they were anxious or upset. Some of our favorite fingerplays include “Pat-a-Cake,” “Drive the Firetruck,” “5 Little Monkeys,” – both jumping on the bed and teasing Mr. Crocodile – and “Open Shut Them.”

Favorite Tummy Time Toys

We loved mirrors and pictures of family members laminated or placed into Ziploc bags. The lamination made them safe enough for your little one to touch and even put in their mouth. Ziploc bags were better for babies who aren’t teething yet. You can even add different materials into the Ziploc bags to make a sound toy. They love looking at themselves in a mirror, or as mine always did – enjoying the other baby staring at them. They also love faces, and what a great time to let them look at pictures of mom, dad, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, or any other important people in their life.

Soft Toys for Baby

Eric Carle based toys. Who doesn’t love a toy that ties to a book, plus makes a variety of sounds, has different teething options, and provides baby with lots of different textures. There are so many variety of toys that you can find something perfect for your little one. Plus these toys grow with them too. My toddlers loved playing with these toys so much and they were great for my older children to engage baby too.

Rattle Balls with different textures. We loved that baby was encouraged to look up based on the rattle when the ball moved (either by us or our little one). It’s so exciting when baby pushes it for the first time. The different textures were always fun for baby. And we loved mirrors because babies love to look at themselves (or the other baby) in the mirror.

Soft board books. We loved reading to our children and exploring books together. Sometimes we read the words, other times we looked at the pictures and talked about what we saw. With soft books, baby can explore the different pages and adventures hidden within. Many books have peek-a-boo flaps, crinkle sounds, pages that squeak, and different textures to feel. Check out Reading with Your Baby for some great books and tips too!

Support for Adults too

And of course, a trusty body pillow or two for the parents to be comfortable. I would always lay down a comfortable blanket and a few pillows so that I would be more comfortable laying down on the floor with my little one. The more comfortable you are during tummy time, the longer you will want to encourage your little one to be on their tummy.

Your comfort is almost as important as your baby’s comfort, maybe even more so. Your little one will enjoy tummy time longer with another active participant. You will play with your child longer if you are comfortable. So don’t skimp on your comfort here.

Tummy time is a wonderful start to helping your little caterpillar transform into an independent butterfly. Provide your little one the time, especially your time, to build muscles, strength, and coordination to take the first steps towards independence. With your support, your little one will meet their developmental milestones and if they don’t, please read our series on Early Intervention, starting with Early Intervention: A Life Saver. Never let your worries keep you from getting your child the help they need.

Please take a moment and leave us a comment below to let us know your absolute tummy time essential for baby and your favorite tricks and tips for encouraging longer infant tummy time.

Hi, I’m Nicole.

Here at Creatingbutterflies we provide families with practical solutions to real life problems for everything parenting, scouting, dual language, and enjoying time outdoors. We are a family of 6 with 4 wonderful becoming bilingual children who loves scouting, camping, and hiking with their family. Mom is an educator and dad is a firefighter/paramedic.